Val Logsdon Fitch

Each time a new frontier of observation is broached we inevitably discover new phenomena which force us to modify substantially our previous conceptions.

Val Logsdon Fitch (March 10, 1923 – February 5, 2015) was an American nuclear physicist who shared the 1980 Physics Nobel Prize with James Cronin for the discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons.

At any one time there is a natural tendency among physicists to believe that we already know the essential ingredients of a comprehensive theory. But each time a new frontier of observation is broached we inevitably discover new phenomena which force us to modify substantially our previous conceptions. I believe this process to be unending, that the delights and challenges of unexpected discovery will continue always.